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Mexican police force armed with slingshots after guns confiscated Municipality mayor stages symbolic
Municipality mayor stages symbolic protest after state government deems local police force unfit for service
David Agren in Mexico City
@el_reportero
Wed 27 Jun 2018 15.14 EDT Last modified on Wed 27 Jun 2018 16.06 EDT
Police in a troubled Mexican municipality have been equipped with slingshots and stones after state officials stripped officers of their weapons.
Only 30 officers of the 130-member police department in Alvarado, on Mexico’s Gulf Coast, have passed control tests and been deemed fit for service, prompting the Veracruz state public secretariat to disarm the force, media reported.
Mayor Bogar Ruiz Rosas said the force was made up of mostly new hires, who were scheduled to start training in the state police academy. Mexican media showed the mayor handing out catapults and small bags of rocks to officers, in a symbolic act of protest.
He insisted the disarming of local police in Alvarado was a political vendetta ahead of the 1 July elections on the national and state levels.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/27/mexico-police-slingshots-aDavid Agren in Mexico City @el_reportero Wed 27 Jcarado-veracruz